Over the last ten years, Oosterhof and Todorov's valence-dominance model has emerged as the most prominent account of how people evaluate faces on social dimensions. In this model, two dimensions (valence and dominance) underpin social judgments of faces. Because this model has primarily been developed and tested in Western regions, it is unclear whether these findings apply to other regions. We addressed this question by replicating Oosterhof and Todorov's methodology across 11 world regions, 41 countries, and 11,570 participants. When we used Oosterhof and Todorov's original analysis strategy, the valence-dominance model generalized across regions. When we used an alternative methodology to allow for correlated dimensions we observed much less generalization. Collectively, these results suggest that, while the valence-dominance model generalizes very well across regions when dimensions are forced to be orthogonal, regional differences are revealed when we use different extraction methods, correlate and rotate the dimension reduction solution.

Introduction-Rates of anxiety and depression are increasing among college undergraduates. Existing research has demonstrated a link between social skills and mental health outcomes. This study explores the relationship between verbal social skills (encoding and decoding) and anxiety and depression by measuring the extent to which loneliness mediates these relationships. Methods-Baseline data from a cross-sequential study exploring college student mental health was used to analyze social skills, loneliness, as well as, depression and anxiety. A diverse group of students (n = 2,054; M = 19.95; SD = 1.26) participated from two residential colleges in the United States. Results-Six mediation models were estimated, separately testing whether loneliness mediated the relationship between anxiety and depression and social expressiveness, sensitivity, and control. All six found that (a) anxiety and depression were separately predicted by the verbal encoding skills of social expressivity and social control and the decoding skill of social sensitivity, and (b) all of those relationships were mediated by loneliness. These models accounted for 37-38% of the variability in scores of depression and 17-20% of the variability in scores of anxiety. Conclusions-The results of this study indicate verbal social skills play an important role in students experience of loneliness as well as depression and anxiety. Improving the social skills of students should be considered by colleges seeking to reduce the mental health burdens experienced by their students.

Introduction Little is known about the etiology or medical/psychological correlates of persistent genital arousal disorder (PGAD). Aim The aims of this article were (i) to replicate the findings of earlier research identifying two subtypes of women with persistent arousal—those who meet all features of the condition and are at least moderately distressed, and those who meet only some features and are less distressed; and (ii) to identify the medical, psychological and/or pharmacological correlates of the condition. Method A comprehensive web-based survey of persistent genital arousal (PGA) was posted on several Internet websites. Of the 156 women who completed the survey, 76 met all five features qualifying for a persistent genital arousal disorder (PGAD) group, and 48 met only some features (non-PGAD group). Main Outcome Measures The main outcome measures were endorsement of diagnostic signs of depression, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and panic attack as well as medical illnesses and pharmacological preparations. Results Compared to non-PGA subjects, women with PGA were significantly more likely to be depressed (55% vs. 38%) and to report panic attacks (31.6% vs. 14.6%). They were more anxious and more likely to monitor their physical sensations. Both groups reported high rates of childhood and adult sexual abuse, although the PGA women reported a higher prevalence of sexual victimization. They were significantly more likely to endorse negative feelings about their genital sensations and also more likely to complain of chronic fatigue syndrome than women without the condition (10% vs. 0%). There were no significant relationships with pharmacologic agents and symptoms. Conclusions Women who met all the criteria of PGAD were more likely than women who only met some of the criteria to report depression, anxiety, panic attacks, and certain obsessive-compulsive symptoms such as monitoring their physical sensations. It is hypothesized that for a subset of women, psychological factors, namely anxiety, reinforce exacerbate and maintain PGAD.

The purpose of the current study was two-fold: (1) To examine time trends of the inclusion of fathers in child psychopathology research from 2005 to 2015; and (2) to examine online crowdsourcing as a method to recruit and study fathers. In study 1, findings indicated that, relative to two earlier reviews of father participation from 1984 – 1991 and 1992 – 2004, there has been limited progress in the inclusion of fathers in child psychopathology research over the last decade. In study 2, without explicit efforts to recruit fathers, almost 40% of a sample of 564 parents recruited from online crowdsourcing (Amazon’s Mechanical Turk) were fathers. Major demographic differences did not emerge between mother and father participants and data were equally reliable for mothers and fathers. Fathers were more likely to drop out over the course of a 12-month follow-up but these differences in retention between mothers and fathers were non-significant if fathers were retained at a 2-week follow-up. Finally, family process models tested across four assessments (baseline, 4, 8, and 12 month follow-ups) indicated that data from fathers are equally supportive of convergent validity as data from mothers. We concluded that online crowdsourcing is a promising recruitment methodology to increase father participation in child psychopathology research.

Introduction Persistent genital arousal disorder (PGAD), previously known as persistent sexual arousal syndrome, is a serious and extremely distressing condition. Clinical experience suggests that there may be a subset of women who experience persistent genital arousal as a normative and not especially distressing part of their sexuality. Aim To determine whether there are women who report unprovoked genital arousal and view it as normative, and to identify differences between women who endorse all five features of PGAD vs. those who endorse only some of features. Main Outcome Measures Respondents were asked about the nature, onset, duration, and severity of their arousal, and their feelings about PGAD. Overall sexual and relationship satisfaction was assessed, as were scores on the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI). Methods An on-line, anonymous survey on persistent genital arousal was conducted. Of the 388 respondents, 206 women endorsed all five features of PGAD (PGAD group) and 176 endorsed some, but not all, criteria (non-PGAD group). Results The two groups were similar in age, relationship status, and duration. More PGAD than non-PGAD women reported current symptoms and greater symptom severity. Distress ratings were significantly greater for PGAD than non-PGAD women (7.9 vs. 4.7 on a 10-point scale). Forty-eight percent of PGAD vs. 27% of non-PGAD women reported continuous feelings of arousal. Significantly more PGAD women than non-PGAD women endorsed negative feelings about their genital arousal. Women with PGAD reported lower desire, less sexual satisfaction, greater pain, and lower overall scores on the FSFI. Conclusion There is a cohort of women who regularly, if intermittently, experience unprovoked and persistent genital arousal and find it mildly pleasurable. Their genital arousal differs from that of women who meet all five criteria for a diagnosis of PGAD. Possible explanations and etiologies for these differing reactions are discussed.

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Mental health problems are prevalent amongst today's college students and psychosocial stress has been identified as a strong contributing factor. Conversely, research has documented that emotional intelligence (EQ) is a protective factor for depression, anxiety and stress (mental health problems). However, the underlying mechanism whereby EQ may support stronger mental health is currently not well understood. This study used regression analyses to examine the hypothesis that belongingness (inclusion, rejection) partially mediates the effects of EQ (attention, clarity, repair) on psychological well-being in a large sample (N = 2,094) of undergraduate students. Results supported the mediation hypotheses for all three EQ components and highlighted that the effects of rejection on psychological well-being were particularly strong. In line with prior research, our results indicate that prevention and intervention efforts with college students could explicitly target EQ skills in an effort to reduce perceived rejection and promote student well-being.

The COVID-19 pandemic has increased negative emotions and decreased positive emotions globally. Left unchecked, these emotional changes might have a wide array of adverse impacts. To reduce negative emotions and increase positive emotions, we tested the effectiveness of reappraisal, an emotion-regulation strategy that modifies how one thinks about a situation. Participants from 87 countries and regions (n = 21,644) were randomly assigned to one of two brief reappraisal interventions (reconstrual or repurposing) or one of two control conditions (active or passive). Results revealed that both reappraisal interventions (vesus both control conditions) consistently reduced negative emotions and increased positive emotions across different measures. Reconstrual and repurposing interventions had similar effects. Importantly, planned exploratory analyses indicated that reappraisal interventions did not reduce intentions to practice preventive health behaviours. The findings demonstrate the viability of creating scalable, low-cost interventions for use around the world.